


these are the reasons

by clairedreems



Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 20:29:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20552240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clairedreems/pseuds/clairedreems
Summary: or: five times people ask penelope "why" regarding odysseus





	these are the reasons

the first time it was estra.

ody and her had just started dating - and estra had complained. her friend did it almost every time they're together. she'd complained about his looks and his smugness. on him being annoying and irritating.

that specific time though, it was the last day of the second semester, just before they took their exams. or, to be more accurate, it was before estra's exam, because penny had been exempted from all of hers, and estra just wanted to drag her with her.

"why in the world did you have to pick him?" estra groans, as she mindlessly flips through her notes she wasn't even reading.

in her mind, penny was thinking of the boy who'd patiently waited for her answer; who'd actually went up to her infamously _ strict _ and overprotective father just to ask her out on _ one _ date. he'd asked for one chance, just one. and then she can just be 'done with him' - his words, not hers.

but she didn't say any of that. all she'd said to estra was, "cause he's cute?" and then shrugged.

estra looks at her like she'd lost her mind, about to argue. thankfully, their professor began calling everyone in, and her friend had mouthed _ later_, before bounding in the room.

* * *

the second time was helen.

helen was braiding penny's hair - their morning classes were cancelled and helen invited penny to her place - when the well-known 'campus crush' speaks.

"i heard about your boyfriend's _ reputation_," helen says, carefully enunciating the last word to make sure penny gets the message without actually asking the question.

_ why stay with such a guy? _

penny does, of course. she knows.

he's both a genius and a good looking guy, and he's charming (except to estra, maybe). one of the most desirable, sought out guys in their college - and outside of it.

penny also knows she isn't ody's first.

she's seen people admire him in a way she should be mad. she's felt jealous of them. felt angry, sometimes.

but at the end of the day, who does ody return to? ody might smile and talk to them and make them swoon, but he comes back to her with a kiss on her forehead and the funny stories he'd gotten for the day.

penny smiles. "yeah. quite the guy, huh?"

helen snorts and then shakes her head, returning to braiding penny's hair.

* * *

the third time was makkie, who, around that time, was already heavily pregnant.

she'd visited penny under the guise of trying to learn knitting, because "it's supposed to be motherlike and i'm gonna be a mother soon,” but she knows it’s because makkie’s worried about her.

it only takes about fifteen minutes for makkie to put the needles down and throw her hands up in the air in frustration. "i'm gonna burn it. and then i'm gonna kill hector for putting a child in me."

"i'll help you bury him," penny offers, as she carefully made a new loop. she's making a doll on the image of a dog.

makkie turns quiet, and that was enough to get penny's attention. the pregnant woman was still looking at her.

"why do you do it?" makkie asks quietly. "almost everyone's given up on him."

ody had been missing for ten months, one week and three days.

penny looks at the half-finished doll in her hands. she thinks of argos, out there waiting for his master, no matter what.

she also thinks of the last message she'd received from ody, ever since his disappearance.

_ If nothing else, know this: I love you. _

"i trust," is all penny says in reply.

* * *

the fourth time happens a few months after ody came back. he decides to finally show up to his parents, and he takes her with him for support.

his mother is all airs and flaunting, and turns sharp eyes towards her as they eat on the dinner table. after all, ody came back to her first and didn't even think about telling his family he's alright until only recently. his mother has every right to feel angry.

his father on the other hand, is all caring and welcoming, just happy that his son had finally come back home in one piece.

by all means, penelope should feel scared, but she does not. she doesn't know where this indifference comes from, but at this point, she's waited for him long enough to even let anything stand in their way.

surprisingly, it's his father that looks at her with curiosity. it's his father who asks her why she'd allowed a boy like ody to "corrupt her."

she laughs. and replies with a, "maybe it's me who's corrupting him."

his father is taken aback, and ody tries to compose himself. but his mother looks at her with a twinkle in her eyes.

anticlea looks at her son and nods. "i like her."

* * *

the fifth and final time was ody himself, the day of their wedding.

he disappears right before the ceremony starts. she hears the commotion outside of her room: people are looking for him and he's nowhere to be found.

she escapes the venue, and, still dressed up in her bridal gown, goes to the nearest fast food restaurant and finds him there.

she wonders if she should whack him on the head. but people are openly gawking and pointing and staring, so she decides against it. instead, she sits down across him.

she waits a bit for a few seconds before he finally registers her. his mouth goes slack.

he stumbles over his words, unsure of what to say, and settles on: "it was a mistake."

what she'd felt might've showed up on her face because he backtracks quickly. "no, no! not that! not you! i'll marry you. anytime. anywhere. always. i love you," he pauses. he never really said it that much after his return. "uh, i mean- meant those people. i can't..." he fidgets. "we shouldn't have had that big wedding."

she stares, and then she laughs so hard, as if someone had just told her the funniest joke in the world. she's sure someone's recording this by now.

"you done now?" he asks, looking a bit irate over the fact that penny had just laughed at him.

"i'm sorry, i just... never thought that i'd see the day where you're the nervous one. besides, that wedding is our parents' wishes. but if you want..." smiling, she takes his hand. "we can always just elope."

it's his turn to stare. "_you_? _elope_?"

"what? think i can't do it?"

"but why?"

at first she thinks the question is different, like '_why elope_,' or something, but quickly realizes it's _ why go so far for me? _

she looks at him, takes all of him in. he's been regularly cutting his hair ever since his return. there's a faded scar running down atop on his left brow. he looks old and really, really young, both at the same time.

she remembers a boy arguing with her about philosophy, a boy holding her hand unsurely, a boy helping her in her newest knitted project. she remembers a boy helping her up, hugging her close, kissing her lips.

she looks at him, at this lovely, infuriating man.

penelope smiles. "because i love you too."

* * *

_ **bonus:** _

anticlea glares at her, and this time, penelope cares. this woman was, after all, her mother-in-law now.

her own father is giving the newlyweds an earful. she could see helen out the window of the room, mouthing, 'tell us later.'

ody and her were already married, but everything about the situation feels like they're both juvenile delinquents being scolded by their parents.

(they did _ just _ leave their formal wedding only to have athena - ody’s sort-of boss - officiate _ another _ wedding.)

icarius keeps talking about "shame" and "disgrace," and kept glaring at ody. penny can see laertes, ody’s dad, watching everything worriedly in front of him, and her own mum looking at them impassively.

she sighs and her husband - ** _husband_**, still makes her feel giddy that he's her _ husband _ now - notices and takes her hand. he passes a finger on the ring she now wears, and she looks at him. by the expression on his face, it seems like she's not the only one feeling happy.

penny opens her mouth to speak, but ody beats her to it.

"it was me. asked her to marry me-"

at the admission, icarius went red in the face, and stopped his ongoing tirade in favour of glaring at ody.

penny turns to ody in an offended sort of way. "don't lie! i offered the elopement, mister. _i_ asked you to run away with me."

the whole room turns to her, and she feels the weight of it. she'd be scared, except she still feels the lingering feelings of getting married, and ody's hand is on hers. she can also see her mum trying to not laugh.

"aye? _i_ think that was my idea though -"

"oh, really? _i_ think i'd have to remind you then -"

icarius gets redder and redder every passing second, and penny wonders when her father'd combust.

"i think," laertes interrupts, looking at them, "that we should allow the newlyweds a honeymoon first."

penny's mum laughs, and ushers an irate icarius out of the room, but not without leaving a hug and a kiss for her daughter.

"i wasn't around to watch you grow up, but i'm glad, penelope. i'm so, so glad. and." she looks at ody. "do excuse this man." she gestures at icarius, who's still trying to murder ody with a petulant glare.

laertes joyfully gives them a hug, with a whisper of, "be happy, you two."

it's anticlea who stays in the room last, and then she smiles. ody visibly relaxes. his mum looks at him. "you aren't forgiven yet," she says sharply, and ody droops down. she continues, "but you will be, if you give me a grandchild."

ody whispers a scandalized "_mom_!" and penny - who'd joked a lot about such - found herself turning red. it's one thing to be joking about it _yourself_, it's another when it's the in-law.

anticlea laughs in return, and leaves the newlyweds like that.


End file.
